kliq

We lost Bill Bentley for the year with a torn ACL. I don't think he is a make or break player by any stretch of the imagination, but to lose a starting CB when that is our weakest position is not good. Hopefully someone steps up, or we sign/trade for someone. I have heard rumblings of Champ Bailey. He used to be a pro bowler, but I have clue if he has another year left in him. The fact that he remains unsigned is not a good sign.

Agreed, but I would add that there is probably opinions above him as well. I would be shocked if Ilitch didnt give his 2 cents every once in a while. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in any way calling Ilitch a Jerry Jones, or a guy who doesn't allow his people to do their jobs, but like you said, its a giant organization with ALOT of people.

I'm willing to give Kindl one more year to prove himself. I remember in 2013 when he was paired with DD, he played really well, then last season happened. Hopefully 2013 was more of an indication of what he can do opposed to 2014,

Why doesn't Alfie do what Sundin did a few years back on the Canucks. Let your body rest for a few more months, spend the next 4 months getting healthy and spending time with your family, then in January if you are feeling 100% sign a 1 year deal. by that time, i'm sure someone on our team will have an injury and be on LTIR which will give us a much better picture of what we can sign him to. I would much rather do that and sign him at 100%, then sign him now only to have him day-to-day a few weeks into the season because he is not fully healed. Its a win-win, we have no cap issues moving forward, we easily sign DD, Jurco starts off in the NHL, and Alfie can rest up. Better for us as well come playoff time, Alfie will have enough time to shake off the rust, but wont have to play 82 games which is better for his body. Worst case scenario, come January he still feels hurt, its probably better we didn't sign him anyways, At that point, he can retire a Senator. The only thin im not sure of, is can you do that in the new CBA? As far as I know he doesnt have to pass through waivers since he's not coming from the KHL (ie. Nabokov). I'm not 100% sure of the rules with the new CBA.

I cant see an agent giving a GM a hard time by referencing a deal that in fact that particular agent negotiated to begin with. Secondly you are talking RFA vs UFA, two completely different things that I dont have the energy to get into once again.

DD and Quincey both have the same agent Here is a tidbit from the article posted in this thread by BottleOfSmoke which is written by Nsar Khan regarding DD & Quincey. "His defense partner, Kyle Quincey, signed a two-year, $8.5 million contract on July 1. But Quincey's contract has nothing to do with DeKesyer's negotiations. Quincey was an unrestricted free agent with 418 games of NHL experience, regular season and playoffs. DeKeyser is restricted. They're represented by the same agent, Pat Morris, who hasn't used Quincey's contract as a basis in DeKeyser's talks."

I 100% agree with you.

Cleary wasn't signed due to panic, he was signed due to a promise made a year ago, Holland had to sign him. Personally I was hoping Cleary just retired and took an office job, but he wanted to play. Quincey, ya that one I wish didnt happen at 4.25 million per year.

Thank you that's exactly my point. You may not agree with everything I have said, but your view on what some fans are saying, is the point I am trying to make. A large chunk of Red Wings fans hate the fact they we are currently going through a re-build, and have a hard time accepting that we are not currently cup contenders. They look at everything Holland does under a microscope, and when he does something they do not agree with (ie. Cleary signing, Quincy signing, Legwand trade) they call for his head. While Babcock who overall people are happy with right now, may have the same opinions as Holland, but at the end of the day only gets a few people slightly disagreeing/mad at him, never the outrage that is currently being pointed at Holland, nor do I think he should. Babcock has done one heck of a job in Detroit, especially last year with all the injuries. I fully realize that Holland is the GM, Babcock is the coach, and the roster is Holland's responsibility, but my point is that people are overly critical of Holland right now due to the re-build. The only thing I disagree with you on is your verbiage of "makeshift/transitional/mediocre/insert your preferred term rosters and kept them competitive" as I look at what Holland has been doing a re-build, but one in where he is maintaining competitiveness (please don't mistaken competitiveness with contending) during it, rather then doing an Edmonton and getting rid of everyone. IMO a much smarter way to do it.

There is thread after thread of people absolutely bashing Holland and saying he needs to go, but I haven't read a single post saying that Babcock needs to be fired. There are some putting him down, but not like Holland. But to be fair I dont read every post in every thread. I 100% agree with you that Holland is responsible for the roster, my point wasn't that Babcock deserves blame (I get why they signed Cleary, a promise was made last year, and the Wings kept their word). The point I was trying to make is that people are so quick to jump down Hollands throat in comparison to others because that seems to be the thing to do right now. In all seriousness, my apologies for circumventing the profanity filter. I have seen people do it in a number of threads and I thought it was allowed.

From the article: General manager Ken Holland kept a promise he made to Cleary during last year's training camp by re-signing him, a move met with overwhelming disapproval by the fan base. But Holland and coach Mike Babcock are big supporters of Cleary. I have to say, I find it interesting how so many people s*** all over Holland for the Cleary signing, but you never hear a bad thing about Babcock when its pretty evident that Babcock wanted the signing as well. Dont get me wrong, I wish Holland never made Cleary the promise he did last year, but it is what it is.

Granted I dont know how legit this is, his Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riley_Sheahan says in junior B he played Centre and Wing.

From tsn.ca: AN NHL TEAM IN TORONTO COULD BE YOURS FOR - $1.2 BILLION? http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=461248

Mason Raymond did the same thing last year with the Leafs.

Even if he doesn't take Kindl's spot (I really doubt he will), offer him to a two-way contract he looks like he can still play and when an injury happens you can call him up. No way all 6 D-men play all 82 games. If he doesn't keep it up in the AHL, you can always leave him there and bring up one of the kids. win-win. Maybe Holland read your post in the Offseason thread lol.

I don't watch these guys play often, so I'm by no means an expert regarding these two players. But from what I know they both are better then Quincey, and they both are being paid less then him. Kind of my point that UFA's are paid more the RFA's. Gardiner has 3 full NHL seasons under his belt, Schultz has two. DD hasn't even played 82 games yet. This indicates to me that DD will get something like 3 years at 10-12 million or 1 year 3.5 million. Less per year, but maybe more term then Schultz since Holland really seems to love this kid, while Edmonton is a mess. Something that the Wings should easily be able to do cap wise despite Quincey.

While I do not love the Quincey signing, and I am NOT defending it. People need to realize that a UFA does command much more then an RFA. Especially when the RFA has not even yet played 82 games. (I am not saying Quincey is better or more valuable then DD, I am just saying that in hockey its all about what a player commands given his status) Also, I don't think the Quincey deal has anything to do with DD not being signed yet. If Holland didn't sign Quincey, he probably would have gone out and signed or traded for another veteran D, If we landed Niskanen, Boyle, Erhoff etc. nothing today would be any different, if anything the cap situation would be even tighter. I think they are just waiting to see whats going on with Alfie to see how they can structure DD's contract......either way, lets just wait and see.

Wow! Talk about an over-reaction lol. Maybe if training cap starts and DD is not signed this point would have merit, but at this point nobody knows what is going on behind closed doors. Maybe DD hasn't decided if he wants to sign a bridge, or a 7 year deal. Maybe Holland is waiting to see if Alfie plays. Maybe Holland is thinking of offering a 7 year deal, but is thinking it over. Maybe there is a trade in the works, and yes maybe Holland is paying hardball. But at this point its all just speculation on our parts. Signing a RFA in July, or September is the same thing. Reacting as if Holland is ruining the future with DD is just guesswork.,NOTHING has come out to indicate there is any bad blood brewing. You want to see a player upset with a GM, look at the Blue Jackets with RJ, Montreal with Subban, that stuff always seems to get out. I'm sure I'll be told that i'm "simply wearing rose coloured glasses", but all I am saying is people are jumping the gun. Lets wait and see what happens.

LOL, ya they do suck. They were awesome to watch back in 2009 and 2010 though. I'm not actually saying we should go for Fowler, I just like the guy and if it ever worked out that he came to the Wings, that would be cool given that I followed him from junior.

I dont think trading for Fowler means giving up the future, the kid is 22, he would be a part of the future. He's not scheduled to be a UFA until 2019, so he's not headed here via UFA anytime soon. Either way, its not like Anaheim is looking to move him, I was just saying I would love to have him. Part of that statement is because I am a Spits fan.

Wouldnt trade Mantha, even a little hesitant to include Sproul given the fact that he is a right handed shot (fowler is a lefty).

I would gladly give up Quincey, Franzen, and a prospect

Ansar Khan of MLive: (mailbag) Tyler Myers and Mike Green were among the players the Red Wings looked at acquiring this offseason. The Wings inquired about Ryan Kesler but they didn’t have the assets to acquire him or didn’t want to give up what it would take to trade for him. Anthony Mantha and Petr Mrazek are likely untouchable. It doesn’t make sense to trade someone like right-handed shooting defenseman Ryan Sproul. Gustav Nyquist is basically untouchable. If they were going to package Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco or Brendan Smith with a prospect or two for a ‘star’ player, it would depend on what player you would be getting back.Khan thinks the Wings would be better off having someone like Jurco in their top-six over taking a flyer on Dustin Penner. They could use some more size in their lineup, but it’s unlikely they will look at any more free agents.Danny DeKeyser will probably re-sign before the start of training camp. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: reported the following quote from From Ken Holland: “We’ll find a solution. We like Dan a lot; he’s been a real good, young player for us. The hard part is trying to find what’s fair for player and for club. He’s only played 76 games, but he’s a real important part of our team. We’ll get him done.” I don't think many are worried because there hasn't been a single bad thing rumored/said about how there negotiation are going, and everyone (including DD) are saying he will be signed by training camp. This isn't a Columbus/Ryan Johansen situation........*knock on wood*

Cam Fowler was born in Windsor, Ontario. Probably staying with family and crossing the border to practice. I would love it if we got Fowler! He was drafted 12th overall in 2010, and he was a major reason why Windsor won back to back Memorial Cups. As a 22 year old defensman on the Duck last year, he had 36 points in 70 games and was a +15.

There may be 4 new teams, but I believe that two of them will be relocated.